McCarter book-signing at Joe Davis Stadium

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Mark McCarter, a columnist for The Huntsville Times/al.com and long-time chronicler of the Southern League, will be signing copies of his new book, "Never A Bad Game: Fifty Years of the Southern League" tonight at Joe Davis Stadium.

He'll be signing when the gates open for the Huntsville Stars-Chattanooga Lookouts Saturday night game, an appropriate venue considering his tenure covering the Lookouts for The Chattanooga News-Free Press (1976-1989) and the Stars (1998-present).

The book, which will be sold at the event for $20, tax included, is a compilation of 50 different stories about different games, teams, events and players, some of them household names, many whose stories were told only in the agate type of a box score.

Specific to Huntsville there are chapters on the late Don Mincher, Jose Canseco, the hard-hitting '97 Stars team and the Stars' involvement in the longest game in Southern League history.

The book, printed by August Publications, also includes a look at the league's history and its forefathers, as well as lists of the best 50 major leaguers who have played in the Southern League and the 50 best players in league history who never hit it big.

Wrote Mark Bechtel, a senior editor at Sports Illustrated, "As someone who spent an inordinate amount of time watching the Huntsville Stars--go ahead, bet me that I can't name their 1985 championship-winning starting lineup--and can recite Joe Charboneau's Chattanooga Lookouts stat line by heart, I thought I knew all I needed to about the Southern League. I was wrong. Few history lessons are as entertaining as Never a Bad Game, and few writers are as entertaining as Mark McCarter. This book is proof that the best stories are often found far away from the glare of the big-league spotlight."

The book is available through August Publications. Personally inscribed copies may be obtained through the book's Facebook page or by contacting the author at mmccarter@al.com.